Instagram Users Can Now Buy Products in Chat

Instagram has announced that shoppers can now make payments in chat for items they see while they scroll through their social media feeds, according to a Meta Platforms blog post Monday (July 18).

That includes making customizations to the items and other specifics that were previously not offered on the photo-sharing app, the post stated.

“Each week, 1 billion people message a business across our family of apps — whether it’s chatting with brands, browsing products, asking for support or interacting with stories,” Meta said in the post. “We want to help people start conversations with businesses they care about and help them find and buy products they love in an easy, seamless experience, right from the chat thread.”

Instagram users can use Meta Pay to complete their purchases, track their orders and ask follow-up questions in their chats with these businesses, the post stated.

Small business owners can chat with customers in real time to answer questions and confirm purchase details, create a payment request with item description and price, and request and collect payment. Businesses can use Shops on Instagram and Facebook when they set up their digital storefronts, according to the post.

“As we look toward the next chapter of the internet and the metaverse, we’re looking forward to giving people more access to tools like payments in chat that will make people’s lives easier,” the post stated.

Last week, Instagram said creators with paid subscriptions can now publish their feed posts only to their subscribers, among other new features, less than six months after debuting creator subscriptions.

Read more: Instagram Unveils Exclusive Content for Subscribers

In a video post announcing the new feature, Instagram CEO Adam Mosseri said the platform is on a quest to be “the best place online for creators to make a living,” and the new additions come from feedback from creators who’ve been part of the subscription phase this year.